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Cults & Society
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| Bookreview | ||||
Reverend
Walter Debold |
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Sects and New Religious Movements: An Anthology of Texts from the Catholic Church.This
anthology of texts dealing with new religious movements (NRMs) will be
useful not only to those in responsible offices in the Catholic Church but
also to scholars everywhere who are concerned with contemporary religious
phenomena. It embraces and organizes material from documents authored by
the present Pope and by bishops from around the world. Catholics
will be reassured to discover that those in authority in the Church have
been paying attention to the developments that have often caused anguish
to individuals and to families. In a preamble addressing terminology, the
editors confess that the words sects and cults may have a
pejorative sense; therefore, a preference is expressed for the euphemism,
“new religious movements.” However in the appendix where the earlier
1986 document appears there is the straightforward use of the familiar
“cults.” As a tool
for scholars, the listing of 61 documents will prove very useful. They
afford a worldwide perspective and demonstrate that the Vatican enjoys a
unique advantage in being able to draw to the center experiences from
around the globe. Moreover, the editors acknowledge that the very
existence of the NRMs serves as a catalyst to spark study on the part of
mainline churches and synagogues. In the
introduction the reader is reminded that the present Pope, John Paul II,
perceives our modern society as being on a spiritual journey, even, more
precisely, on a search. It is a search which sometimes looks backward in
hopes of bringing about a “revival” and sometimes lurches forward
toward radical alternatives. There is also a note of warning that some of
the groups “fail to respect the dignity and freedom of the human
person.” It will not
be surprising that many of the contributions have a defensive air about
them for the bishops naturally have a commitment to protect and advance
the faith of this 2,000-year-old church, but their concerns are expressed
with a reasonableness and charity which is influenced by their conviction
that we are living in “an age of ecumenical dialogue.” This attitude
so colors their statements that anyone who has spent time in the healing
of victims of thought reform will wonder at the absence of more forceful
warnings about the malice of manipulators. If, indeed, the defense of
human freedom is a fundamentally religious issue then one might expect
religious leaders to be very sensitive to the violation of freedom. But,
then, it is only proper to remind ourselves that this anthology takes 61
different quotations out of their original context where they may have
appeared in stronger colors. The six
chapter headings under which these various statements are grouped form a
useful framework in which to capture the insights of the world’s
bishops. They are “Cultural
Context and Causes,” “Diversity of Origin of the Movements,”
“Impact and Process of Communication,” “Spiritual and Theological
Discernment,” “Pastoral Challenges and Responses,” and “Attitude
of Dialogue.” Quite
naturally the papal documents and discourses are presented first in each
section, followed by quotations from individual bishops and from their
national conferences. In one visit to a parish in Rome, the Pontiff
expressed the opinion that one reason for the proliferation of sects is
that people experience a “fear of tomorrow,” and Cardinal Arinze said
that “the NRMs can arise and attract because people are searching for
meaning when they are feeling lost in a period of cultural change.” Also
in this section devoted to psychological causes there is a reminder that
the depersonalizing structures of modern society create crisis situations
which call for psychological and spiritual responses: “The sects claim
to have and to give these responses. They do this on both the affective
and the cognitive levels often responding to the affective needs in a way
that deadens the cognitive faculties.”
That analysis is reminiscent of a lecture once given by Dr. Louis
J. West on the subject of “mesmerizing” and another conference by Dr.
Ray Dreitlein on the manipulative techniques by which “it seems that one
part of your brain is put to sleep.” The
National Conference of Bishops in the United States is quoted as saying:
“We observe in biblical fundamentalism an effort to try to find in the
Bible all the direct answers for living - though the Bible itself nowhere
claims such authority. The appeal of such an approach is
understandable.... People of all ages yearn for answers. They look for
sure, definite rules for living. And they are given answers - simplistic
answers to complex issues - in a confident and enthusiastic way in
fundamentalist Bible groups.” The readers
of CSJ will realize that the susceptibility to fundamentalist
solutions to life’s problems is not limited to religion. It seems to be
an anti-intellectual infection that can appear anywhere in the world in
any area of life. It seems to grow more resistant as it encounters
opposition. Nevertheless it is an enduring challenge to educators. As
creatures in time we must overcome “the fear of tomorrow.” The
anthology concludes with an appendix which includes the 1986 Roman
document on “Sects and The New Religious Movements.”
It, too, hoped to preserve an ecumenical stance, but was frank
enough to say, “clearly we cannot be naively irenical.” This
anthology is a very worthwhile piece of work which, it is to be hoped,
will be continually updated by the authors when churchmen around this
ever-shrinking world continue to experience the pressures of the new
religious movements. |
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